What Was Tried at MCAS Miramar, California, 2024–2026? 39 Courts-Martial

Trends › By Installation › MCAS Miramar, California › 2024–2026

Based on 39 cases · 2024–2026 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

More Contested Cases, Fewer Full Acquittals

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. At Miramar, 17 of the cases with a plea recorded were contested and 22 were guilty pleas. The contested share was 44%, compared with 36% across the Navy and Marine Corps.

Of those 17 contested cases that reached a verdict, 2 ended in a full acquittal. Another 4 ended in a partial acquittal, where the accused was found not guilty of some charges and guilty of others. The full acquittal rate, 12%, is lower than the 26% service-wide.

Compared With Jacksonville and Great Lakes

Jacksonville, Florida tried 40 cases in the same years, and Great Lakes, Illinois tried 31. Both are similar in size to Miramar's 39. Jacksonville's contested share was higher, 63%, and 4 of 24 contested cases there ended in a full acquittal. Great Lakes' contested share was lower, 30%, and 3 of 9 ended in a full acquittal.

Miramar's median confinement, 6 months, was the highest of the 3. It was 5 months at Jacksonville and 4 months at Great Lakes. Miramar's punitive discharge rate for enlisted convictions, 53%, was between Jacksonville's 39% and Great Lakes' 56%.

Changes From 2019–2023

In 2019–2023, Miramar tried 42 cases over the 5 years with cases on record, about 8 a year. Since 2024, it has tried about 16 a year, counting full years only. The contested share rose from 30% to 44%. Full acquittals went from 0 of 6 to 2 of 17.

Some results did not change much. The median confinement was 6 months in both periods. Convictions with confinement went from 74% to 70%. Punitive discharges for enlisted convictions went from 66% to 53%. General courts-martial went from 38% to 31% of cases. With groups this small, these changes show direction, not precise size.

What Was Charged

Charge lists cover all 39 cases. Article 134 (the general article) and Article 92 (orders violation) were the most common, with 8 cases each. Article 112a (drug) was next, with 7. Article 128b (domestic violence) and Article 128 (assault) had 6 each. A case with several articles appears in several rows.

Drug charges were more common than in the service as a whole: 18% of cases, compared with 12%. Article 113 (drunken or reckless operation of a vehicle) was also more common: 8%, compared with 3%.

Results by Charge

For the 2 most common articles, the records show conviction rates and the median sentence for a conviction on that article. Article 134 cases ended in a conviction in 7 of 8, with a median confinement of 1.2 years. Article 92 cases ended in a conviction in 8 of 8, with a median of 3 months.

Confinement and Court Level

Of the 37 convictions, 70% included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the Navy and Marine Corps median. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 2 years or longer. Sentences longer than one year were about as common as service-wide: 8 of 37 convictions (22%), compared with 20%.

Court level made a large difference. At the 12 general courts-martial, 92% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 2 years. At the 27 special courts-martial, 60% did, with a median of 3 months. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence.

All of these are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.

Punitive Discharges and the Accused

A punitive discharge followed 53% of enlisted convictions: 10 bad-conduct and 8 dishonorable discharges. That is about the same as the 52% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. The records show 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, and 0 were sentenced to dismissal.

The accused were 25 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 10 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 officer or warrant officer. That is more junior than the Navy and Marine Corps overall, where 59% were junior enlisted. General courts-martial were 31% of Miramar cases, compared with 37% service-wide.

Limits of These Records

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel have decided whether to prosecute covered offenses. New sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. Both rules depend on offense dates, which the records do not give, so 2024–2026 trials include both old-rule and new-rule cases.

The records also do not describe the evidence or plea terms. They do not show nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations, and they count only part of 2026.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.

About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.